What Can You Do About Postpartum Hair Loss?

This page discusses all of them, and then suggests what you can do about it.

Pregnancy
- it’s a quite an ordeal isn’t it? Not only do you get morning
sickness, put on loads of weight, change shape and suffer all sorts of
aches and pains, but when it’s all over, you might suffer hair loss
too!

So, if you’ve just had a baby, and have now noticed you’ve started
losing lots of hair, take a look at these three conditions to see
whether one of them might be the culprit:

1. Pregnancy Delay

Model used for illustrative purposes only.

More women today delay having children until they're much older.

This increasing trend reflects the preference many women now have to concentrate on a career first and raising a family second.

But,
unfortunately, this delay can hinder the female body's ability to
restore normal hormone balance following the upheaval of pregnancy and
childbirth. This is basically because an older body is more likely
to have a slower metabolism or inadequate hormone levels than a
younger, healthier body.

What are the consequences this can have on your hair?

Well, during pregnancy, female hormone levels rise, and this usually encourages hair to grow extremely well. But, after pregnancy, there’s a corresponding drop in female hormone levels. And this reduction can then cause hair loss to develop.

So, if you're older when you have a child, the following three disorders may be more likely to affect you, and more likely to last longer too...

2. Postpartum Thyroiditis

Model only used for illustrative purposes.

Postpartum thyroiditis involves inflammation of the thyroid gland,
and is thought to develop due to changes in the immune system during
pregnancy.

It affects approximately 10% of women some months
after they've given birth, but is usually temporary and so, should be
corrected naturally after about a year.

The symptoms of postpartum thyroiditis can be quite confusing - they can include those of hyperthyroidism initially, followed by those of hypothyroidism (and the symptoms of both these disorders include hair loss).

So, to find out whether this could be the type of hair loss you have, it
might be a good idea to take a look at the symptoms of both
hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism - you can find out what these are,
and learn more about thyroid-related hair loss here.

3. Postpartum Telogen Effluvium

Telogen effluvium usually causes gradual hair thinning and hair
loss. And it can also be called "diffuse" hair loss because it involves a
general thinning spread out across the whole scalp, rather than massive
hair loss or baldness in a localized region.

Women can develop
telogen effluvium within the first five months after they’ve given
birth. And the reason why is basically because their hormones have been
thrown out of whack.

Throughout a pregnancy, there’s a big rise in
female hormone levels (estrogen and progesterone). And this causes the
mother’s hair to grow exceptionally well.

But, once the baby has been born,
her hormone levels drop back down again, and this shock to the system
can then have an adverse effect, causing telogen effluvium to develop.

Any hair loss of this type should subside after about a year and a
half. But, that’s a long time to have hair loss - you can lose a lot of
hair in a year and a half!

And it can last even longer if you also have androgenetic alopecia or previously had alopecia areata (see next section).

Postpartum telogen effluvium can affect a lot of women too - as many as 50%.

There can be several other causes of telogen effluvium too. And you can learn about these by reading this page.

4. Alopecia Areata

This is a very nasty type of hair loss – severe, rapid, localized
hair loss that can develop into bald spots or patches within days.

So, if you’ve got alopecia areata, you would certainly know about it!

This
is an autoimmune disease. It can run in families and be stress-related.
So, what with pregnancy and childbirth potentially being one of the
most stressful events of your life, it’s hardly surprising that those
women with a tendency towards this disease might experience it following
a pregnancy.

Similarly, if you’ve already had previous episodes
of areata, your pregnancy might just be the trigger that causes a new
flare-up of hair loss.

There’s no cure for alopecia areata. But, obviously reducing your
stress levels, and then keeping them low, can only help (although, when
you’ve just had a baby, that’s probably a lot easier said than done!)

You can learn more about alopecia areata and its associated hair loss conditions (which are even worse) on this page.

Taking Action Against Postpartum Hair Loss

The techniques which restored hair regrowth for me and so help overcome the hair loss I suffered (androgenetic alopecia) should help women with postpartum hair loss too.

That’s
because these techniques can stimulate the scalp follicles and so,
should be able to get your hair growing normally again sooner than if
you have no treatment at all.

If you just sit and wait (and hope) that your hair will suddenly start growing again the way it used to, that might mean wishful thinking for months.

And fretting about your hair loss will only make it worse!

I believe taking
action is by far the best way to deal with hair loss. So, if you agree
with me, you might like to take a look at my techniques and decide
for yourself whether or not they’re worth a try:

Note: It’s important to be aware that my techniques are probably suitable
for postpartum hair loss caused by telogen effluvium or a thyroid
condition, but not for alopecia areata. Areata is an autoimmune
disease currently without any known cure. So, unfortunately, my techniques are unlikely
to be of any help for people with this disease.

Always consult with a doctor to identify which type of hair loss you have and how best to treat it.